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New tools?

01-12-2010, 01:05 AM

So, with the builders show in vegas at the end of the month, what does every one speculate the new tool offerings are going to be? I think a right angle drill to replace the 12 volt one, currently on clearance, oscillating tool, and hopefully an 18 volt angle grinder and 18 volt impact wrench for frankiearmz!!! For me too of course!

If anybody is making the trip to Vegas, my understanding is that not many tool companies are showing again this year. RIDGID is having a media event but will not have a booth. Some areas of the economy are warming up but new home construction is still pretty low. I'll be walking the show to get a feel for the sector. Truthfully, last year was more crowded than I expected so I might be pleasantly surprised again this year.

P.S. You know I can't come out with an impact wrench. What would Frankiearmz and I talk about after that?

If anybody is making the trip to Vegas, my understanding is that not many tool companies are showing again this year. RIDGID is having a media event but will not have a booth. Some areas of the economy are warming up but new home construction is still pretty low. I'll be walking the show to get a feel for the sector. Truthfully, last year was more crowded than I expected so I might be pleasantly surprised again this year.

ProBrand, after the Ridgid RoundUp, I was a little bit disappointed by Santa this Christmas. After us bantering around a bit about "possible" future additions to the line-up (and stuff that are just non-posibilities), I was looking forward to November/December. I was hoping that there would be some soon-to-come roll outs. I remember it being said by someone on the team, "...just wait until Christmas..." and "...you won't believe what we've got coming shortly."

Comment

So, with the builders show in vegas at the end of the month, what does every one speculate the new tool offerings are going to be? I think a right angle drill to replace the 12 volt one, currently on clearance, oscillating tool, and hopefully an 18 volt angle grinder and 18 volt impact wrench for frankiearmz!!! For me too of course!

Second on the new right angle (hopefully, will use the new 12 volt lithium-ion batteries). And HELL YEAH on the 18 volt angle grinder - that's been a wet dream for a long time. I think the only other Ridgid tool release that would be more exciting for me would be a Ridgid 24 volt (and/or MaxSelect) 10" or so mitre saw. I would love to see this. I know it would be a fair bit of a narrow market for it, but the only other battery powered compound mitre saws that are out there are the ones made by Ryobi (a few years back) and Bosch (still available, I believe). I know it would be a long shot, but I'd love to see this. I think battery technology has come a long, LONG way in the past 5 years or so, when those competitors' CMS's came out. Couple the fact that those others ran on only 18 volts (IIRC, it was 18 for the Ryobi, and 24 volts for the Bosch - but the battery and motor improvements are a huge advantage today), and this thing would be a fairly well performing beast with Ridgid's 24 volt XLi batteries. The biggest issue seems to be that Ridgid/TTI doesn't appear that they will continue any further roll-outs of anything in the 24 volt XLi line-up / package.

It's a shame, IMO, as I feel this might be a big hit for Ridgid. I feel that the main market to continue to tap is the homeowner / do-it-yourselfer (side note: I think that this will be the largest market share improvement for Ridgid in the next two to three years, due to all the repercussions from the financial fallout - people will be looking to spend their money more wisely, and this includes with their homes. I think that people will do more of the do-it-yourself type of renovating, rather than hiring a pro [unfortunate as that may be]. This, I think, will lead to fairly huge uptick in power tools being sold). While full-time pros/contractors will continue to use and buy plug-in, high performance CMS's for day-in and day-out use, they may just also pick up one of these for small, just-a-few-minor-cuts type of jobs. Making this saw run on the 24 volt XLi / MaxSelect platform would no doubt make it have less bells and whistles, but at the same time, it would make it simpler and lighter (just look at the Bosch version for a clear-cut example). I think this would be the main advantage/selling point for the homeowner/do-it-yourselfer. They would use a CMS for a little project, and then maybe use it once or twice every year or so. Having to spend the Benjamins, and occupy the space in the garage, for a full size 12" sliding CMS just isn't an option. They'd rather rent a CMS for $100 for the weekend or week, rather than spend $400 to $600 on a good full size CMS. However, if Ridgid did one, one that would work with the batteries they already own and use with their other homeowner/do-it-yourselfer orange-and-grey power tools, then getting one of these for $199 to $299 would be more within reason for them.

Just my 2 cents.

(Figured I'd get in here and give my rationale for a tool, before Frankie hijacks the thread for his impact wrench rallying cry. )

Comment

If anybody is making the trip to Vegas, my understanding is that not many tool companies are showing again this year. RIDGID is having a media event but will not have a booth. Some areas of the economy are warming up but new home construction is still pretty low. I'll be walking the show to get a feel for the sector. Truthfully, last year was more crowded than I expected so I might be pleasantly surprised again this year.

P.S. You know I can't come out with an impact wrench. What would Frankiearmz and I talk about after that?

I'm a good listener, and after you come out with that impact wrench we could talk about anything you want. Seriously, you folks must have your reasons for limiting the selection of tools and you've been upfront with that. I'm not looking forward to yet another tool line and batttery configuration, but it appears I have no choice. Thanks

Comment

A flashlight fetish, that is funny. You are not alone. Once thought to be a "filler" tool the flashlight is actually a very talked about piece of the kit now. I sure get a lot of use out of them.

Keith, thanks for the feedback and sorry for any misunderstanding about Christmas. I knew it wasn't going to be much on the RIDGID power tool side. Launches start in March and then there is a nice little stream through the fall. Sorry if I gave you any wrong impressions while here. I still can't believe the nailer discussion died like that. I'll try again to reignite.

I agree the 24V line would have more success now than it did three years ago. It is a nice augment to a line but just didn't work out when put most of our LI eggs in that basket. Hope you have a good experience with the V28 kit. Please give RIDGID another try if we come out with a tool that makes sense for you.